Infrastructure

I spent much of last week in Nashville. It was an impressive change from LA. When I left for the airport I saw that traffic on the 91 was already backed up at 5AM! It wasn't completely stopped by any means, but it was barely crawling along.

Then I got to the airport. Despite being so early the line for security was almost out of the door. I waited around about a half hour, glad I had not tried to push my luck getting there late.

Then I land in Nashville. It was about 5PM, and I was about ten minutes from downtown. I drove to one of the major tourist attractions in the city. No traffic. Nothing that even vaguely resembles an average day in LA. I had to try really hard to not go 90 the whole way. Which I easily could have, were it not for the strangely low speed limits combined with being unsure how aggressive the local police were. The whole time I was in Nashville I never was in any significant traffic despite driving to downtown several times.

Then I went to the airport to head home. Unlike the line going out the door in LA, I doubt I spent ten minutes from getting in line to get a boarding pass, to being behind security. I wouldn't say that there was no line, but it was insignificant. Nothing like what I faced in LA.

I really don't see how California can hold up in the long run unless this gets reversed. Sure, we have no shortage of smart people here, but if they are stuck in traffic or fighting airport security they aren't doing anything productive. It seems like we have tried to abandon the car, without bothering to make anything better. Following the route of NYC and getting excellent public transportation would have been fine. Having horrible traffic, with no alternatives, isn't.